Tribute What would your all time Oilers team look like?

[Bring Back Bucky]

I am going to do things a little different

Some are just grabbing the all the best players and tossing them on the 3rd or 4th line--some of the our best players were bad checkers and could not play in their own zone and did not have that much grit


here is my team

Tik-Gretz-Kurri
Messier-McDavid-Anderson (messier started out as a lw)


now here is where you call me insane
3rd line-- Hunter--Mactavish- Pat Hughes (I still say this is one the best third lines of all time)
4th line Moreau-Marchant-Buchberger

D
Pronger-Lowe (Pronger for pts and Lowe for D)
Huddy/Muni-Coffey (I think Huddy and Muni at the record holders for the most 3 on 1 against)
Jason Smith and Steve Smith

Goal

Fuhr and Ranford

my guess is I will have a few names not on other lists

Hughes and MacTavish didn’t play together did they ??

 

[Jumptheshark]

Hughes and MacTavish didn’t play together did they ??

correct I got my time line confused

 

[tardigrade81]

Nobody is picking Viktor Fasth hey.

 

[RattsSSV]

Tikkanen - Gretzky - Kurri
Draisaitl - McDavid - Simpson
Hall - Messier - Anderson
Smyth - Weight - Hemsky
Laraque

Coffey - Pronger
Lowe - Huddy
Niinimaa - Mironov
Smid

Fuhr
Ranford
Joseph

Big fan of Georges and Laddy hence their inclusion.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Surprised not to see anyone take Semenko. I was going to put Semenko on mine as a black ace originally but as I already had McLelland I went with Linseman over Semenko. But honestly Semenko would probably be there if push came to shove.

 

[Drivesaitl]

What would your all time Oilers team look like?
Kurri Gretzky Draisatl
Smyth Messier Guerin
Hall McDavid Anderson
Tikanen Weight Hemsky

Coffey Pronger
Lowe S Smith
Huddy Klefbom

Fuhr
Moog

My bad had Kurri twice, I will adjust.

Hemsky? lol

He wouldn't be an alltime Vancouver Canuck.

Moog couldn't carry Cujos jockstrap.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Taking liberties with Centres who played wing and ignoring defenseman handedness....

Messier - Gretzky - Kurri
Hall - McDavid - Anderson
Tikkanen - Weight - Draisaitl
Simpson - Carson - Guerin

Coffey - Pronger
S. Smith - Souray
Lowe - Hamrlik

Fuhr
Ranford

Pretty damn good. Best shot taken I would say. But Cujo > Ranford.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Hemsky? lol

He wouldn't be an alltime Vancouver Canuck.

Moog couldn't carry Cujos jockstrap.

Just watched the 1997 game against dallas in the playoffs where cujo robbed the dallas player with his paddle.

As a goalie growing up, this is who I watched.

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

I can't fairly pick players that I've never seen play, and based on this picking Gretzky would be cheating.

So, based on the players I've actually witnessed on the Oilers in my lifetime:

Draisaitl-McDavid-Hemsky
Hall-Weight-Guerin
Smyth-Arnott-Samsanov
RNH-Stoll-Eberle

Pronger-Spacek
Visnovsky-Mironov
Souray-Petry

Cujo
Salo

 

[BudBundy]

Pretty damn good. Best shot taken I would say. But Cujo > Ranford.

Thanks! Ya, I debated over that second goalie one for a while. I went with Bill because he was just so clutch. His Conn Smythe win in 1990 was awesome. Cujo was great and he absolutely won our team a lot of games we had no business winning. Tough call.

Just watched the 1997 game against dallas in the playoffs where cujo robbed the dallas player with his paddle.

As a goalie growing up, this is who I watched.

I watched that game last night too. That was Nieuwendyk that Cujo robbed just before Marchants OT winner. Those mid 90s Oilers teams weren’t the most talented, but by gawd could they skate and hit. I think that’s why the Shawn Horcoff era drive me so crazy. Good player, but refused to get physical and it trickled down through the rest of the team. The “bus stop” behaviour when one of our guys got mugged was just intolerable.

 

[ohheyhemsky]

Hemsky? lol

He wouldn't be an alltime Vancouver Canuck.

Moog couldn't carry Cujos jockstrap.

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

[BudBundy]

I can't fairly pick players that I've never seen play, and based on this picking Gretzky would be cheating.

So, based on the players I've actually witnessed on the Oilers in my lifetime:

Draisaitl-McDavid-Hemsky
Hall-Weight-Guerin
Smyth-Arnott-Samsanov
RNH-Stoll-Eberle

Pronger-Spacek
Visnovsky-Mironov
Brewer-Petry

Salo
Roloson

Did you consider Souray or was his time too brief?

 

[The Panther]

Okay, I'll bite, but my choices are based when they played for Edmonton (i.e., I'm not taking Jacques Plante because he was 84 years old when he played for Edmonton):

Tikkanen 1990 -- Gretzky 1984 -- Kurri 1985
[Only two seasons with all three together, but possibly the greatest NHL line of all time. 'Nuff said.]
Draisaitl 2019 -- McDavid 2018 -- Yamamoto 2020
[McDrai is easy; you may be surprised at the Yamamoto selection, but I love his game and I love his chemistry with Draisaitl.]
Anderson 1986 -- Messier 1990 -- Simpson 1988
[All big-game bosses; was an actual line from late 1987 to spring 1991. Rocked.]
Krushelnyski 1985 -- MacTavish 1986 -- McSorley 1988
[The grind line that will play 10 minutes per game. MacT is awesome on face-offs, Krushelnyski extremely versatile and great on the boards, and McSorley -- as a forward, not a 'D' -- can be very effective and will kill anyone who messes with the stars, just in case.]

I really like this forward group. Every line has one right-hander, and two lefties, interestingly. I seriously doubt any NHL team in history can boast three centers of the collective level of the top three, above. Also, each line has one guy who will go to the net in the 'dirty' areas -- namely, Tikkanen, Yamamoto, Simpson... and everyone on the 4th line!

Pronger 2006 -- Larsson 2020
[Pronger was scary-good in Edmonton for one year; Larsson's game this year is back to peak level.]
Coffey 1983 -- J. Smith 2000
[One goes out, one stays at home.]
S. Smith 1990 -- Klefbom 2020
[Two lefties? They'll make it work.]

I may be a tad worried about Coffey's and Klefbom's defensive games, but their partners are there to balance them out with more physicality. Coffey, I think, was best around 1982-1984 before he got too caught up chasing records (exception of '85 playoffs when he was superhuman). There's at least one bruiser on each pairing (and two, in the case of Pronger/Larsson).

Joseph 1997 -- Fuhr 1986
[Oilers have been blessed with some serious goaltenders, but these two stand-out to me. Could win you big games.]

So, that's my team!!

Players that I considered, but 'cut':
- Vince Damphousse (awesome in 1991-92, but look at the top three centers? We don't need him)
- Bernie Nicholls (great with Damphousse in '92, but similar problem as above, and he was a bit past his peak)
- Doug Weight (incredible playmaker, but we've got enough of those, and his defensive game was really weak)
- Kent Nilsson (Bernie Nicholls-ish problem -- he was great for a few months, but I prefer Simpson on that wing. Simpson was a 'gamer' who laid his body on the line and was huge in the playoffs)
- Ryan Smyth (fan favorite, likable guy, but we don't need him)
- Taylor Hall (again, we don't need him. Also, I never liked him)
- Michael Peca (wanted him on the '4th line', but was he maybe a bit past his peak in Edmonton?)
- Todd Marchant (could replace Krushelnyski on the 4th line, if you prefer a speedster who's less physical)
- Charlie Huddy (great at his best, but didn't quite excel in any one area to make it)
- Boris Mironov (liked watching him, but a little concerned at his defensive stability)


I believe the line-up I assembled, if both motivated and healthy, could go something like 79-3 in a regular season. And, needless to say, would win the Cup!

Other teams would look at this team... and then just go home in fear.

Ah, it warms my heart to imagine it!

 

[The Panther]

What about the all-time worst Oilers' line-up?

Jason Bonsignore . . . Nail Yakupov . . . Griffin Reinhart . . .

 

[BleedingOil]

What about the all-time worst Oilers' line-up?

Jason Bonsignore . . . Nail Yakupov . . . Griffin Reinhart . . .

Niinimaki Mikhnov Kelly

 

[tardigrade81]

I can't fairly pick players that I've never seen play, and based on this picking Gretzky would be cheating.

So, based on the players I've actually witnessed on the Oilers in my lifetime:

Draisaitl-McDavid-Hemsky
Hall-Weight-Guerin
Smyth-Arnott-Samsanov
RNH-Stoll-Eberle

Pronger-Spacek
Visnovsky-Mironov
Brewer-Petry

Salo
Roloson

So weird to see an all time list without Gretzky, but I get it. If you haven’t seen him play that’s fair. I also haven’t outside of highlights. Didn’t start watching hockey till about 04.

 

[Tad Mikowsky]

What about the all-time worst Oilers' line-up?

Jason Bonsignore . . . Nail Yakupov . . . Griffin Reinhart . . .

THAT could be a fun one.

 

[barry halls]

All I know is Hemsky would be on my team. Miss watching that guy play, he was more fun to watch than Hall in my opinion, and sometimes more effective. He remains in the top-10 Oilers scoring ranks, for the record, and gave us a lot of good years where too much was being asked of him as the only capable winger on the team, but he never complained or gave up on the team. A player who was asked to be better than he was, and when he failed to turn into a superstar fans turned on him, though he was still a very valuable top 6 player...(hmm, a player with two last names also comes to mind here).
A great Oiler in my books.

Also I’ve been watching 80s games and can see why people would pick MacT. A very solid all-around Swiss Army knife of a player.

 

[barry halls]

Double post

 

[Draiskull]

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

shooooooooooooooooooooooot

 

[BudBundy]

Worst list. Some of these weren’t necessarily horrible people or players, but more a case the the Oilers overpaying for them or them being high draft picks that busted. Troy Mallette can’t be exactly faulted for making the list. The trouble is he is what an “impartial arbitrator” “awarded” the Oilers as compensation when the NY Rangers signed ADAM GRAVES as an RFA.

Corson - Bonsignore - Mikhnov
E Cole - Arnott - Riesen
Boulerice - Henrich - Mallette
Yakupov - O’Sullivan- Eager

Nick Stajduhar - Teddy Peckmen
Alex Plante - Cory Cross
Ryan Whitney - Joni Pitkanen

Ty Conklin
Nokolai Havebeenboozing

 

[Paperbagofglory]

Surprised how many people did not list Cujo on their lists for Goalie. Had he been on an Oilers roster that was a contender you are looking at multiple Stanley cups. To me he was easily the best Oilers goalie in terms of dominance. Look i love Fuhr he made the clutch saves, but he was never even the top 5 players on his own team. True when you have an all star lineup like the Oilers it was easy to be overshadowed. I just think Cujo did more with less.

 

[yukoner88]

Surprised how many people did not list Cujo on their lists for Goalie. Had he been on an Oilers roster that was a contender you are looking at multiple Stanley cups. To me he was easily the best Oilers goalie in terms of dominance. Look i love Fuhr he made the clutch saves, but he was never even the top 5 players on his own team. True when you have an all star lineup like the Oilers it was easy to be overshadowed. I just think Cujo did more with less.

I love cujo and I agree with you that if the 90s Oilers were able to keep more of their stronger players, they would've been more of a force in the western conference. Cujo was my childhood idol with how he played and elevated his came.

But let's not diminish Fuhr and his accomplishments either. As powerful as the Oilers of the 80s were, they played almost zero defence. Being able to see the games of old, the constant barrage of odd man rushes and breakaways Fuhr had to deal with was insane.

There was a reason that when the Oilers hit a point to choose Fuhr or Moog, they chose Fuhr

 

[Soundwave]

Okay, I'll bite, but my choices are based when they played for Edmonton (i.e., I'm not taking Jacques Plante because he was 84 years old when he played for Edmonton):

Tikkanen 1990 -- Gretzky 1984 -- Kurri 1985
[Only two seasons with all three together, but possibly the greatest NHL line of all time. 'Nuff said.]
Draisaitl 2019 -- McDavid 2018 -- Yamamoto 2020
[McDrai is easy; you may be surprised at the Yamamoto selection, but I love his game and I love his chemistry with Draisaitl.]
Anderson 1986 -- Messier 1990 -- Simpson 1988
[All big-game bosses; was an actual line from late 1987 to spring 1991. Rocked.]
Krushelnyski 1985 -- MacTavish 1986 -- McSorley 1988
[The grind line that will play 10 minutes per game. MacT is awesome on face-offs, Krushelnyski extremely versatile and great on the boards, and McSorley -- as a forward, not a 'D' -- can be very effective and will kill anyone who messes with the stars, just in case.]

I really like this forward group. Every line has one right-hander, and two lefties, interestingly. I seriously doubt any NHL team in history can boast three centers of the collective level of the top three, above. Also, each line has one guy who will go to the net in the 'dirty' areas -- namely, Tikkanen, Yamamoto, Simpson... and everyone on the 4th line!

Pronger 2006 -- Larsson 2020
[Pronger was scary-good in Edmonton for one year; Larsson's game this year is back to peak level.]
Coffey 1983 -- J. Smith 2000
[One goes out, one stays at home.]
S. Smith 1990 -- Klefbom 2020
[Two lefties? They'll make it work.]

I may be a tad worried about Coffey's and Klefbom's defensive games, but their partners are there to balance them out with more physicality. Coffey, I think, was best around 1982-1984 before he got too caught up chasing records (exception of '85 playoffs when he was superhuman). There's at least one bruiser on each pairing (and two, in the case of Pronger/Larsson).

Joseph 1997 -- Fuhr 1986
[Oilers have been blessed with some serious goaltenders, but these two stand-out to me. Could win you big games.]

So, that's my team!!

Players that I considered, but 'cut':
- Vince Damphousse (awesome in 1991-92, but look at the top three centers? We don't need him)
- Bernie Nicholls (great with Damphousse in '92, but similar problem as above, and he was a bit past his peak)
- Doug Weight (incredible playmaker, but we've got enough of those, and his defensive game was really weak)
- Kent Nilsson (Bernie Nicholls-ish problem -- he was great for a few months, but I prefer Simpson on that wing. Simpson was a 'gamer' who laid his body on the line and was huge in the playoffs)
- Ryan Smyth (fan favorite, likable guy, but we don't need him)
- Taylor Hall (again, we don't need him. Also, I never liked him)
- Michael Peca (wanted him on the '4th line', but was he maybe a bit past his peak in Edmonton?)
- Todd Marchant (could replace Krushelnyski on the 4th line, if you prefer a speedster who's less physical)
- Charlie Huddy (great at his best, but didn't quite excel in any one area to make it)
- Boris Mironov (liked watching him, but a little concerned at his defensive stability)


I believe the line-up I assembled, if both motivated and healthy, could go something like 79-3 in a regular season. And, needless to say, would win the Cup!

Other teams would look at this team... and then just go home in fear.

Ah, it warms my heart to imagine it!

Yamamoto over Weight, Smyth, etc. .... c'mon, lol. That's ridiculous. A player as good as Draisaitl can have just as much chemistry or better with like 50 other players.

 

[Zenos]

Surprised how many people did not list Cujo on their lists for Goalie. Had he been on an Oilers roster that was a contender you are looking at multiple Stanley cups.

I suppose. He really did look fantastic in those two first round upsets.. But then you're getting into could haves and would haves.

On the other hand, I don't blame anyone who ignores such theoretical exercises and picks the guys who actually did get it done as Oilers. It's tough to argue against Stanley Cups, Vezinas, and Conn Smythe's after-all. That's why I would go with Fuhr and Ranford. But both Cujo and Roloson also deserve honorable mention.